1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed document managing method for managing printed information as to a document that is printed on a paper sheet. The present invention also relates to a printed document managing program, an image forming apparatus, and a printed document managing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an increasing amount of electronic data has been used and stored as original documents. In this trend, devices for guaranteeing the originality of those electronic data have been developed (originality guaranteeing electronic storage devices; see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-5728, pp. 10-23, for example). When electronic data with its originality guaranteed is retrieved from an originality guaranteeing electronic storage device, the information as to the operations history such as “who did when and what . . . ” is recorded.
As for the information printed on a paper sheet, a technique of using information recorded on an IC chip attached to the paper sheet and associating the paper sheet with the data of the original has been disclosed (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003-208488, pp. 3-7, for example).
However, it is difficult to manage information once printed on a paper sheet, no matter how strictly the originality of electronic data is managed. More specifically, where a paper sheet having information printed thereon is copied with a copying machine, there is no way to manage the paper sheet on which the copying is performed. Therefore, tracing management cannot be performed on the information printed on the paper sheet.